[meteorite-list] eBay's Spyware and Cookies

From: Chris Peterson <clp_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 17:37:50 -0700
Message-ID: <1A643EEC378A490791B67BA45804E785_at_bellatrix>

Tagasaurus is simple malware. It has no way to install itself on a properly
configured system. You need to download and run something carrying it. In
this respect it is no different from most other malware. Doubleclick and
Mediaplex do not download executable code to your computer. All they do is
set tracking cookies that are used to analyze your traffic patterns. They
are harmless, but you may nevertheless consider them a violation of privacy.
If so, it is trivial in any browser to either block those cookies, or
convert them to session cookies.

There is a big difference between setting a cookie and downloading some kind
of monitoring software! If eBay were actually doing the latter, it would be
all over the news.

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "harlan trammell" <skyrox at hotmail.com>
To: <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 5:16 PM
Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] eBay's Spyware and Cookies



hitbox, tagasaurus, doubleclick, mediaplex, etc. ALL with AUTOMATICALLY
UPLOAD themselves w/o your consent. they will reside in your unit until you
discover+delete them.
Received on Tue 02 Dec 2008 07:37:50 PM PST